Summers' End
by sinnerforhire
Summary: Please r/r!!! Sequel to "Summers' Solstice." Jackie tries to avenge Eric, with disastrous results.


Title: Summers' End

Author: AmandaLynn125 (amandalynn99@earthlink.net)

Rating: PG-13 (language, violence)

Genre: Drama/Angst

Spoilers: "Leech"

Archive: anywhere, just let me know where

Summary: AU sequel to "Summers' Solstice." Jackie must learn to live without Eric.

Disclaimer: I don't own _Smallville_ or any of its characters. Jackie, however, is mine. 

Jackie had rushed to the hospital as soon as she'd heard, but she wasn't allowed in to see him since she wasn't immediate family. She paced outside his room, watching him through the narrow window. She shuddered to see how frail and ghostly he looked. A shiver ran through her body as she realized that he would never truly be the same again. She had lost her best friend, once and for all.

She heard a sound behind her, and turned to see Clark Kent. "How is he?" Clark asked Jackie softly.

Jackie shrugged. "They won't tell me anything," she lamented. "But I don't think he'll ever be the same again." She took a deep breath. "Clark, that wasn't Eric who threw you into that car and hurt you so badly. It wasn't the real him. You have to believe me. Eric wasn't like that."

Clark nodded. "I know," he replied. "But that kind of power--it would change anyone."

Jackie turned back to Eric. "I warned him," she said softly. "I thought he would listen to me."

"Jackie, it's not your fault," Clark said sternly. "You had nothing to do with this. Eric made his own choices." Jackie nodded slightly, but she didn't really believe him. She could have changed things. She _should_ have changed things.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!"

The scream came from the bottom of Jackie's heart. "He's not dead! He can't be dead! He can't be!"

Jackie's mother put her arms around her hysterical daughter. "Jackie, he sustained a substantial electrical shock. It's amazing he didn't die immediately. But he could only hold out so long."

Jackie pulled roughly away from her mother, wailing. "This isn't right! This isn't how it should have been! _I want my best friend back!_"

"Jackie, honey, please calm down," her mother begged softly. "I know it hurts, but you have to find a way to move on."

"Mom, just get out, okay?" demanded Jackie. Her mother left the room without a word.

Eric was dead. Eric had died a freak. Everyone in school would forever remember him as a super-strong, super-angry freak who had tried to kill one of the most popular Neanderthals in school. No one would ever understand Eric's last act. No one would ever remember Eric the way he ought to be remembered. _That_ was what she was crying for--the boy who had died when Eric first discovered his powers. The Eric who had been her best friend since seventh grade. The Eric who had been insulted, pushed around, turned down, and ripped apart by the Neanderthals from his very first days in school. The Eric only she knew--and loved.

She had to do something. Something to make sure Eric didn't die in vain and dissolve into Smallville obscurity.

She was going to make Eric's statement for him.

And she was going to do it right.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Jackie went to school the next day wearing a black trenchcoat identical to Eric's. It garnered a lot of bewildered and frightened stares. She liked it that way. She knew they couldn't forget him. She would never let them. She had to keep him in the forefront of their minds for her plan to work.

She heard whispers as she walked confidently down the halls. Mostly from the Neanderthals, she noticed. She caught Holly's eye as she stood at Brent's locker, and Holly quickly looked away. Eric was on everyone's mind, and she would keep it that way as long as she could.

When she got to the cafeteria that day she sat at her usual back-corner table, overlooking the rest of the room. She eyed them cautiously, memorizing every little detail. The jocks sat in the center of the room, the nerds in the back with her, and everyone else in the front. It was the same every day. She suspected that this particular arrangement had been handed down from generation to generation. The jocks at the center of everything--that's how Smallville operated. _The geeks will inherit the earth_, Jackie reminded herself, but sitting in the back of the cafeteria watching a bunch of Neanderthal football players having more fun than she and Eric ever did in school, it sure didn't feel that way. 

Her mother always told her to wait for college, that everything would be better then, but Jackie didn't think that was fair. Why should the jocks rule the school and everyone in it? Why did they get away with treating everyone like shit just because they could hurl a football a few dozen yards? _And why do we all accept it?_ she asked herself bitterly. Well, Eric hadn't, and still the Neanderthals had won. They made him a freak, and he died a freak. Forever would Eric Summers be the freak of Smallville High. _And forever will I defend him to the world,_ Jackie promised. _Eric wasn't a bad guy. He was just frustrated, angry, and deeply, deeply hurt._

Deeply hurt. She wondered if jocks could even _get _hurt--emotionally, that is. Jocks seemed to be impervious to insult and psychological injury. It was as though their brains wore cups. How could they do it? 

Well, if she couldn't hurt them psychologically, she would have to do the next best thing.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"My truck!" Brent screamed, his fury evident in his reddened face. The blue truck had been splashed with bright blood-red paint. Jackie stood at the edge of the parking lot, smiling to herself. She was finally hitting them where it hurt.

Brent circled his truck, his jaw hanging open. He was speechless. _No one_ ever messed with him, except that punk Eric. So who could have had the balls to do this?

"Who did this?" Brent shouted. He whirled around to face the quickly gathering crowd. "Who's the little shitface who wrecked my truck? I'm gonna _find you_!" he promised at the top of his lungs. Holly moved forward and tried to grab his arm, but he jerked away from her. Jackie watched it all contentedly. 

Chloe stepped forward out of the crowd and started taking pictures of the ruined truck. "Get out of here," Brent snarled at her. She snapped a few last shots and stepped back, frightened. Clark stepped protectively in front of her.

Principal Kwan strode purposefully out to the center of the parking lot. "What is the problem here?"

"Somebody threw paint on my truck!" Brent bellowed. "Look at it! It's ruined!"

Principal Kwan stepped carefully around the truck, surveying the damage. He looked around at the crowd of students. "When I find out who did this, not only will you be suspended, but the police will be charging you with vandalism and wanton destruction of private property," he said evenly. He turned and walked back inside the school as an interested murmur rushed through the crowd.

Jackie's plan was working just as she wanted it to. Soon they would see who the _real _freak of Smallville High was.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Brent sat down at his usual seat in the cafeteria, only to jump up animatedly, knocking over his chair. A huge brown stain covered the back of his jeans. A small giggle was heard near the back of the cafeteria, and quickly spread throughout the room. Soon the entire cafeteria erupted in hysterical laughter at Brent and his brown jeans. Brent's face turned bright red, and he ran out of the cafeteria, Holly trailing him cautiously. Jackie was laughing harder than anyone. Soon he would know how it felt to live the life of a freak, day after day. Soon he would understand everything he had put Eric through. Soon the scales of justice would be tipped in Eric's favor for once. She just hoped that wherever he was, Eric could see what Jackie was doing for him. She hoped he appreciated it. It was all for him.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It was Jackie's most brilliant plan yet. If it worked it would be the penultimate incident in the total humiliation of Brent. She had slipped into the gym just before the pickup game of Thursday and put vegetable oil on the floor just under the net. The plan depended on Brent hot-dogging it all over the court, slam-dunking his lay-ups and generally being an ass. She grinned as she envisioned Brent falling on his ass in front of his precious Holly. She knew the story would spread like wildfire--even Brent's so-called "friends" wouldn't be able to keep it quiet.

She slipped under the bleachers just as Whitney and Brent came out from the locker room. Lana and Holly entered, giggling and gabbing a mile a minute as they claimed the "best seats in the house" to watch their boyfriends take on Pete Ross and Clark Kent.

Jackie smiled happily as Whitney and Brent started taking turns showing off. Soon Brent's complete downfall as a Neanderthal would commence, and Eric would be vindicated. 

Whitney twirled the ball on his finger as Lana cheered him on. Jackie rolled her eyes and prayed that Pete and Clark would be ready soon. Eager to look macho in front of Lana, Whitney dribbled the ball between his legs and ran up to the hoop for a slam-dunk, twisting around and putting the ball in over his shoulder. Jackie put her hands over her face, dreading what was going to happen next. It wasn't supposed to be this way! This wasn't right! This wasn't fair!

The sickening crack of bone shattering echoed grotesquely from the gym walls. Whitney's agonized scream mixed with Lana's. Jackie pulled her hands from her eyes, which were filling with tears. Whitney lay on the wooden floor, groaning and clutching his left arm. Lana jumped off the bleachers and ran to his side, trying to comfort him, as Brent rushed off to get the school nurse.

_Nnnnooooo!!!_ Jackie's mind screamed. Her stomach twisted with fear and guilt. _It wasn't supposed to happen like this!! God, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! Please, I'll do anything; just let me take this back! Please, God, help me!_

Jackie pulled her trenchcoat over her head, trying to make herself disappear off the face of the earth. What had she done? What had she _done_? While Whitney wasn't her favorite person, he didn't deserve this. Brent did! It should have been Brent! It was _supposed_ to be Brent! 

~*~*~*~*~*~

Jackie spent the rest of the day under the bleachers, sobbing. What had she done? It was just supposed to be a harmless prank? But everything had gotten so out of control!

The crushing realization hit her: She was just like Eric. He hadn't _meant_ to hurt anyone either, but he had. She'd accomplished the opposite of what she had set out to do--she had hurt an innocent on a deranged quest for vengeance and power. 

She felt like ripping her evil, vengeful heart out of her chest. This wasn't the person she wanted to be! She could hardly stand herself! How could she live with this for the rest of her life? How could she ever show her face in school again, knowing how thoroughly, horribly malicious she had been? Everyone would know before long. She'd have to face all of them--Whitney, Brent, even Principal Kwan. Her life would be over. Just like Eric's. 

Only she would be the living dead. She'd walk silently through the halls like a ghost. No one would talk to her, or look at her. She would be invisible. Utterly invisible. She would be a shadow, always trailing behind, looking over everyone's shoulders, existing but not living.

The shadow girl. Forever she would be a shadow of her former self. A part of her had died when Eric died, but a much bigger part of her had died when Whitney hit the floor. Innocent, harmless Jackie had died. Malicious, coldhearted Jackie still lived. She had stepped into the dark side and there was no way back. She couldn't take back what she had done. And she couldn't change her motivation for doing it. Hadn't she known all along what the dangers were? Hadn't she just wanted Brent to suffer, like Eric had suffered? And didn't that make her no better than Brent himself? 

Jackie wanted to die. She felt as if she already were dead. Her soul was dead, but her body still chugged on autonomously. She knew what she had to do.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Jackie sat in the bathtub, staring into space. The note was written; everything was put in order. She had asked her parents to take all the money out of her bank account and give it to Whitney to help cover the medical bills. She had apologized for being a vengeful, spiteful, evil person. She hadn't apologized to Eric yet; she assumed she would have plenty of time to do that--an eternity, in fact. 

She turned the knife over in her hands. She couldn't believe how quickly her life had come to this. A week ago, she and Eric were just normal, everyday Smallville High students. And now…

The knife bit sharply into the sensitive skin of Jackie's wrist. She gasped, but kept going. She knew it couldn't possibly be as painful as what Eric and Whitney had gone through. She slit her other wrist, then lay back in the scalding water, waiting for the end. The end she deserved. She wondered if Eric had felt like this as he was dying. Did he feel, like she did, that he needed to be punished? Was he afraid, like she was? Or did he not think or feel anything at all? 

Her head spun. She rested it on the back of the bathtub. She could feel herself slipping away. _I'm_ _coming, Eric,_ she thought wistfully,_ to be your best friend again._


End file.
